A new restaurant has opened inside Ellis Park. Track officials say Lucky Joe’s Bar and Grill “features locally produced American cuisine prepared fresh on a daily basis”.

Among the offerings of the casual dining experience is Ellis Park Fried Chicken, renamed Joe’s Fried Chicken, served with fries and Ellis Relish. The menu also includes a Turkey Club with fresh, sliced turkey breast and Lucky Joe’s Classic Burger. All sandwich options come with fresh Saratoga Chips, a homemade-style potato chip. Lucky Joe’s Bar & Grill also features a bakery case loaded with fresh baked cakes, pies and other sweet treats.

In late August, Ellis Park unveiled the newly remodeled Clubhouse which included 187 Instant Racing Machines and a remodeled simulcast area with high definition televisions.

Lucky Joe’s Bar & Grill is located on the first floor of the Ellis Park Clubhouse just inside the main entrance. The average price per meal is under $10.00 per person.

As a part of the Grand Opening celebration, when you visit during January and purchase a meal from Lucky Joe’s, you will receive a free slice of Chocolate Cake.

Contact:

McKay Smith
HorseTourneys.com
859.340.1694
support@horsetourneys.com

ELLIS PARK TO HOST “THE BIG ONE” HANDICAPPING CONTEST WITH ESTIMATED PURSE OF $300,000 

50 Seats Available for Qualification at HorseTourneys.com

HENDERSON, KY, December 15, 2012  –  Ellis Park Race Course, Inc., announced today a new on-track handicapping contest, named “The Big One” at Ellis Park, to be held next Labor Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, August 31^st and September 1^st, 2013.  The majority of qualifying seats to “The Big One” will be made available exclusively at HorseTourneys.com, Ellis Park’s proprietary handicapping contest website.

Covering two days, the contest will mirror the format of the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC), the industry’s recognized and pre-eminent annual national championship of handicapping.  It will award the top 10 finishers qualifying packages to the 2014 NHC, expected to be held in January, 2014, in Las Vegas.  With the estimated purse of $300,000, it would become the second-richest handicapping contest on the NHC Tour, second only to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.

“The Big One” will be limited to 55 total entries, with 50 of those entries available exclusively at HorseTourneys.com, the online handicapping contest site owned and operated by Ellis Park.  Up to five (5) buy-in entries will also be made available on a lottery basis for an estimated $10,000 each.  Qualifying contests to “The Big One” will begin in January, 2013, at www.HorseTourneys.com.  Players will be limited to one entry per player; however, qualifying packages earned at HorseTourneys.com may be transferred to any individual.

“We’re delighted to be back in the on-track contest scene at Ellis Park,” said Ron Geary, owner of Ellis Park Race Course.  “We think this becomes a must-stop on the NHC Tour and one of the most sought-after seats of any handicapping contest.  We look forward to putting on a first-class production for avid contest players around the country.”

Based on the estimated purse of $300,000 (based on 50 entries—purse would be higher should 55 entries be attained or adjusted down for fewer entries), prizes will be awarded to the top 10 finishers, or nearly 20 percent of the field.  The grand prize is estimated at $120,000; 2^nd place: $60,000; 3^rd place: $30,000; 4^th place: $22,500; 5^th place: $15,000; 6^th place: $13,500; 7^th place: $12,000; 8^th place: $10,500; 9^th place: $9,000; and 10^th place: $7,500.  The top 10 finishers would also earn qualifying packages to the NHC, including airfare to Las Vegas and hotel accommodations at the NHC host venue.

Qualifying packages to “The Big One” earned at HorseTourneys.com will include a 3-night stay in Evansville, Indiana; $500 in travel allowance; gourmet buffet and open bar throughout the two-day event as well as additional hospitality perks.

“This should be one of the jewels on the NHC Tour circuit in 2013, and the NTRA is very pleased Ellis Park has decided to bring an event of this stature to NHC Tour players,” said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA).

Players will wager on 30 total races—15 per day—to be designated among 16 mandatory races selected by tournament officials and 14 optional plays of players’ choosing among designated simulcast tracks.  Payout caps and other rules will be designed to mimic the expected conditions at the NHC.

Details of the qualifying contests at HorseTourneys will be announced soon.  More information may be found at the HorseTourneys.com website at www.horsetourneys.com/thebigone.

Questions should be directed to McKay Smith at HorseTourneys.com at support@horsetourneys.com.

# # #

Hosting a Holiday Party? Consider having it in Ellis Park’s Clubhouse! Please contact 812-435-8908 for more information.

Ring in the New Year with our Resolution Riches $2,013 Giveaway!

“We actually opened the machines up Labor Day weekend which was our last weekend of the live meet. So, we had quite a few people here and then it was a little slow to take off but, most of that was because people are not used to us being open year round. So, now that words gotten out through our media and everything, we have got people here like this every day,” says Ellis Park Marketing Coordinator Melissa Gerike. “They love the changes we have done to the place, the food, and the bar,” says Ellis Park General Manager Joe Rudisill.

Ellis Park installed their new Instant Racing machines despite legal challenges by opponents. “The machines themselves, well they are a huge hit. They are a little bit different than slot machines, but they are pretty easy to catch onto,” says Gerike. Not only are all the new features a fun attraction for customers, but the addition has increased job opportunities in the area. Gerike says,”The amount of jobs that have come about from this has been incredible.” Rudisill adds, “We’ve added about eighty employees since we opened up this side, so trying to help the job market out a little bit.”

Caren Sellars has been coming to Ellis Park for years and says the machines are just what this area needs. “The atmosphere, the people, the transition, the decor. Me as being a designer, I’ve seen all of this just absolutely make it wonderful for Henderson, and the Tri-State. It’s wonderful,” says Sellars. Although the live horse races are over for the season fans of Ellis Park, like Sellars, are thrilled for the chance to enjoy the Henderson attraction year around. “You know, with everything the way it is, everybody stressed out, the economy, everyday life, stress, and things, you need a little bit of excitement. If you can come over here and spend a few ten, twenty dollars, then you’re doing really good. It’s all good. It’s just phenomenal. It’s great,” adds Sellars.

The park expects its new restaurant to open in about a month. Ellis park will also be open the first weekend of November for the Breeder’s Cup for the first time in years.

Click Here for News Broadcast

About the Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders’ Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. The two-day event changes locations each year. This year’s event is being held in Los Angeles, CA.

The attendance at the Breeders’s Cup ranks fourth or fifth in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races. The attendance of the Breeders’ Cup typically only trails the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Oaks (and in some years, the Belmont Stakes). For more information, visit the Breeders’ Cup Official Website.

Welcome to the Instant Racing machines of Ellis Park: part slot machines, part video games, with a veneer of horse racing tossed in.

The track will throw open the doors at 10 a.m. today to the new 187-machine casino parlor in its clubhouse, issuing in a new era at the 90-year-old track.

No longer will gamblers have to wait a half-hour between live races at Ellis or races simulcast on TV from other tracks. Now, players will be able to sit at an electronic console and place a wager every few seconds. Instant Racing will run from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days, 365 days a year.

To read the rest of the article, visit The Courier and Press.

That’s when the chaos began, because suddenly two of the fastest birds on Earth were on the track at Ellis Park, and they were out of control.

Surveying the crowd of smiling adults and open-mouthed children, these long-necked creatures quickly turned away: No exit there.

Stymied by a line of humans just past the finish line, they shot back in the opposite direction, toward the starting gates, almost trampling two or three jockeys in the process.

But where do you go when you’re tall and beaked and lack the thumbs necessary to hitch a ride? The ostriches seemed resigned: It was back in the trailer, of course, with the makings of a story.

Other people had stories, too, after they saw jockey Corey Lanerie ride the ostrich named “I’ll Hatch Another” to first place on Saturday.

“We thought it was a lot of fun,” said Kelli Mills of Boonville, Ind. “It was funny to watch.”

Read the full article here.

Ellis Park owner Ron Geary plans to place a multimillion-dollar bet on the legality of operating Instant Racing gambling machines in Kentucky.

Geary announced the racetrack will proceed with the installation of 177 of the devices, which combine horse racing bets with the speed and flash of slot machines.

But first, he wants to secure a partner to invest $3 million and become a minority partner in the 90-year-old racetrack. That would provide the capital that Geary said is needed to complete the remodeling of the entire Sportsmen’s Bar clubhouse smoking area and one-third of the remaining ground floor of the clubhouse into a casino-style facility, then install the machines. Read the full article here.